Laundry hacks for the student — Cheap and fast

Laundry hacks for the student — Cheap and fast

Sunday at LMU: National Laundry Day. The following is a guest post courtesy of Justin Burklow (’10) of the University of the Incarnate Word who won our finals week 24-hour Guest Post Showdown. This post earned him a Matrix Pro smart phone and $100 at AT&T.

Massive piles of laundry haunt the average college student (or Mom on the weekends back home) and going starkers isn’t really an option. Having survived several years of college, months of traveling, and now dealing with an economic recession, I have devised several methods of keeping laundry costs down. You can use these tips on your escapades over the summer, to butter up the parental units by saving their money, or just to store in the noggin for next semester.

Wear Your Clothes More Than Once

The fungus-growing, dandruff-spreading classmate wearing the sweats that can be smelt five rows over is an expert at this. Do not turn into him… but you can learn from his methods. I’ve found I can wear a shirt at least twice before putting it in the laundry due to smells or stains. Pants (especially jeans) can last a week. Do not experiment with underwear or socks; it doesn’t work. By wearing your clothes more than once before washing, it cuts effort, electricity use, quarters, and clothing getting spin-cycle damage.

Rotate Outfits and Hang Up Your Clothes Between Uses

Raise your hand if you’ve noticed the person who wears the same shirt all the time. Don’t be that guy either. The point is two-fold. Use your hangers or buy a clothes tree to let your multi-use clothes air out for a couple days while sporting different styles. This prolongs their use keeps you looking snazzy, saving you washes and friends.

Hang Up Your Laundry to Dry

Not always an option for the inmates of dormville, but if you are lucky enough to live in a house or apartment, you can employ this method recommended by many home economists. Attaching your threads to a stout line after a dunking saves all the quarters or electricity used in drying. It also eliminates wear and tear from lint collectors and gives you a couple minutes of therapy hanging clothes up in the glorious sun.

Use ExOfficio Underwear

I should be getting some sort of kickback from the company for this… but I’m not. This underwear can be worn consecutively all semester with just a quick washing in the sink and hanging up to dry for 15 minutes each night. While this sounds worse than borrowing intimates from a Wookie, it’s hygienic, comfortable, and saves you from having to go commando.

LATEST STORIES

I’ve always had this idyllic image of winter break: wearing fleece pajamas and slippers, drinking hot chocolate, and reading a novel by a warm fireplace. Unfortunately, I spent the last 11 years of my life in Florida, so that was never what my winter breaks looked like. My winter breaks usually ...

The position of bartender is an iconic role in American folklore. Think of Moe from The Simpsons or Coach from Cheers. The bartender is someone who not only fills our glass, but lends a helpful ear when we’ve got problems or just need a friend. But what are bartenders really like? Let’s ex...

One of the best parts about being a full-time college student is probably the awesome extended breaks we get over the winter and in the summer. There are some downsides to those long breaks, though—boredom, feeling unproductive, or ending up strapped for cash right when you want to do some holid...